Star Wars themed land announced for Disneyland

[dweezil78]

I feel horrible for asking, but am I the only one bummed that Toontown is staying?

You know what... I'm not a huge Toontown fan, but I just spent time there with my 2 1/2 year old yesterday and he had a blast -- probably moreso than any other area in the park. So for that I am very grateful to have it. Fantasyland is great, but the little ones can really run wild in Toontown in a way they can't elsewhere.

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

I feel horrible for asking, but am I the only one bummed that Toontown is staying?

Nope. It's a waste of space except for one nice ride.

That said, again, even though Disney is denying it now, plans "could change" to allow for an "expanded and enhanced Star Wars experience" necessitating the removal of Toontown once construction starts. It wouldn't be the first time Disney denied something up until the day it happens.

 

[Sage of Time]

If Toontown has to go, I'd rather see it used for an original property and attraction. No synergy.

 

[JamieD]

Cars existed. And highways existed. The interstate act was a year or so away. It's an enormous reach to call Autopia a thematic fit.

You want a TL overhaul? Me too. Until then, Guardians fits in well in TL as it stands. And probably better than Autopia ever did.

Without ever putting too much thought into it, I was always ok with Autopia in TL because I received it as little kids driving or more appropriately something they would do in the future, like a 7-year-old is pretending to be sixteen.

 

[TP2000]

I haven't seen any legit insider say Toontown ISN'T closing - my sources are saying Disney just doesn't want to fess up to it yet. The construction for this land is going to start much sooner than they're letting on and despite the out of the way location, guests will feel it in ways that haven't been discussed in public yet.

The other problem with this kind of diagram is that the buildings directly behind Toontown are the giant rehearsal halls Disney is moving across the street. If Toontown isn't being taken over, then moving those halls doesn't need to be done.

I can easily imagine they've got a lot of work cut out for them with clearing and demolition of backstage facilities before they can get to "groundbreaking" in 2017. I bet we'll see bloggers standing on the roof of Mickey & Friends with zoom lenses within weeks.

But what if they are demolishing the rehearsal halls behind Toontown because they will be building a new float warehouse there, once the existing float warehouse north of Circle D and shown on the map I linked is torn down for Star Wars Land? Could it be possible the rehearsal halls have to go because there will be nowhere else to put a float warehouse behind Disneyland? You can rehearse off property, but you have to have the parade floats on property and near the start of the parade route.

I think Disney is being tight lipped about this on purpose - even the DisneylandToday account won't out right say Toontown isn't closing, just that the new land will include Big Thunder Ranch and backstage facilities.

So while I'm not anti-Toontown, I don't think it's out of the woods just yet.

Then there's that. If Toontown is doomed, and I'm also not convinced it's out of the woods, there will need to be a special announcement for that. They will want to handle it sensitively, and D23 Expo wasn't the time nor place to do that. Although they are boxing themselves into a corner with the statements they've been making the last 24 hours. But I bet they think they can dance around that a year from now if they do actually have to announce they are bulldozing Toontown.

 

[TP2000]

I feel horrible for asking, but am I the only one bummed that Toontown is staying?

You're not. Toontown began a slide towards irrelevance around 1996. If anything, it makes a perfect argument for not building a land dedicated to one franchise. If they ever back off of the franchise, as Disney did in the mid 90's with Roger Rabbit and taking Disney Afternoon of the air, it goes flat pretty quickly.

Plus, it's just a crowded dead end with too few benches and trees.

 

[Disneysea05]

I'll be cautiously optimistic regarding Toon Town staying. I love the look and detail of the land, and the little ones love it. So I'm glad there's some hope that it can co exist in the park with Star Wars.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

You know what... I'm not a huge Toontown fan, but I just spent time there with my 2 1/2 year old yesterday and he had a blast -- probably moreso than any other area in the park. So for that I am very grateful to have it. Fantasyland is great, but the little ones can really run wild in Toontown in a way they can't elsewhere.

Couldn't similar activities be a part of a SW land, or weaved into the theme of another area of DL?

 

[Disneysea05]

Probably, but if it's possible...have both!

 

[Stevek]

You're not. Toontown began a slide towards irrelevance around 1996. If anything, it makes a perfect argument for not building a land dedicated to one franchise.

But, if you were ever going to build a land around a single franchise, I don't think you could ask for a better one that Star Wars. Comparing SW and Roger Rabbit/Toons probably isn't fair to either one.

I will agree that it's become far more irrelevant over the years. My girls, even 10 years ago when they were 4 or 5 really didn't care much for it. Maybe a quick ride on the the coaster since it was "their size" and the rare trip to see Mickey and or Minnie...but we were pretty much in and out which is very different to how we spent time in any other land. I've heard other folks (maybe even here) complain that it's great for little kids so it shouldn't go...hello, isn't 90% of Disneyland geared toward kids/families, like all of Fantasyland? But I do get that TT does lend itself for more "exploration" than rides per se. But, this isn't a DCA thing where tearing out Bugs Land (which I'd have no issue with) would have killed off the kiddie rides a few years ago.

I'm not hopping on bulldozer to tear out Toontown but I also really won't care if it goes.

 

[lazyboy97o]

That still leaves the issue of "tomorrow". Where the hell is that in Disneyland?

It'll be there tomorrow.

 

[TP2000]

The OC Register has another interesting article today about the business impacts that Star Wars Land will have on the area. Some good quotes and info there! http://www.ocregister.com/articles/percent-677921-disney-county.html

 

[PrincessJenn5795]

I feel horrible for asking, but am I the only one bummed that Toontown is staying?

No, not the way it is now. I like the idea of having a land dedicated to the main Disney toon characters, but Toontown is really outdated (Gadget and Roger Rabbit?) and there really isn't much to do there. They should redo it to include some fun rides with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy etc. Two mediocre rides, some character themed houses, and a store is really not enough to make a land worth visiting.

 

[TP2000]

At the very least they could update the two Toontown rides to be based off characters that 21st century audiences know about.

Gadget. Roger Rabbit. Yikes. These are characters that Disney abandoned by the mid 1990's. Why not just sell acid wash jeans and Ace of Base CD's in the gift shops and just make it a 1990's Land?

Retheme Gadget's Go Coaster to Chip & Dale. Retheme and re-Imagineer Car Toon Spin to focus on the classic Disney characters, maybe make it Goofy's spinning dark ride or some such thing and focus on the famous Fab Five who will never go the way of Roger Rabbit.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I'm one of few who likes Toontown, though I can admit and have admitted it needs work done. Car Toon Spin is a great ride and has one of the most detailed queues in the park.

And Mr. Toad is more dated than Roger. I can bet a lot of children don't know who either character is.

 

[lazyboy97o]

At the very least they could update the two Toontown rides to be based off characters that 21st century audiences know about.

Gadget. Roger Rabbit. Yikes. These are characters that Disney abandoned by the mid 1990's. Why not just sell acid wash jeans and Ace of Base CD's in the gift shops and just make it a 1990's Land?

Retheme Gadget's Go Coaster to Chip & Dale. Retheme and re-Imagineer Car Toon Spin to focus on the classic Disney characters, maybe make it Goofy's spinning dark ride or some such thing and focus on the famous Fab Five who will never go the way of Roger Rabbit.

How is that all relevant unless you subscribe to the current idea that themed entertainment is not a legitimate creative medium? Audiences don't know about something until they experience it, and there is no reason themed entertainment cannot be that medium of first exposure.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

I'm one of few who likes Toontown, though I can admit and have admitted it needs work done. Car Toon Spin is a great ride and has one of the most detailed queues in the park.

And Mr. Toad is more dated than Roger. I can bet a lot of children don't know who either character is.

Exactly. Roger's a part of Disneyland whether you know the film or not. It's a solid D ticket dark ride with an awesome queue. This idea that every attraction has to be based off an uber-popular/new/profitable intellectual property is why we haven't gotten another Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, "small world", etc. and they've in turn been altered to feature movie characters. Right? Well, Roger Rabbit was at one point insanely popular, ironically. There's a brilliance to this, it's one for the scholars to explain, not me.

 

[planodisney]

I'm glad Toontown isn't being demolished for Star Wars, so it can be demolished for a Frontierland or Fantasyland expansion in the future. I'm not a big fan of Roger Rabbit but I am a big fan of taking my kids to see Mickey in his house. However, it's too valuable of a space to be as small kid-centric as it is and it isn't very popular.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

I doubt if most young visitors know or care about what film Splash Mountain was inspired by or the TV show that Tower of Terror is based on, yet they remain two of the most popular rides Disney has ever built. Similarly Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin is an attraction based on forgotten characters and situations but still has a legitimate place in Disneyland's attraction roster, mostly because of its unique spinning vehicles. With that said, one worthwhile attraction tucked away in the rear corner of the park isn't enough to make me want to go all of the way back there. If there are lots of others like me, and I suspect there are, that's a long term problem.

In some ways Toontown is this generation's Bear County.

 

[Donaldfan1934]

At the very least they could update the two Toontown rides to be based off characters that 21st century audiences know about.

Gadget. Roger Rabbit. Yikes. These are characters that Disney abandoned by the mid 1990's. Why not just sell acid wash jeans and Ace of Base CD's in the gift shops and just make it a 1990's Land?

Retheme Gadget's Go Coaster to Chip & Dale. Retheme and re-Imagineer Car Toon Spin to focus on the classic Disney characters, maybe make it Goofy's spinning dark ride or some such thing and focus on the famous Fab Five who will never go the way of Roger Rabbit.

The concepts in Who Framed Roger Rabbit! are timeless. The only reason there isn't new Roger Rabbit stuff is explained in this article. Long story short he is owned by two parties and I or think this incident is what lead to the original five movie deal between Disney and Pixar so heavily in Disney's favor. http://www.mouseplanet.com/10382/Who_Disappeared_Roger_Rabbit_From_the_Disney_Parks